But Arian Foster, Andre Johnson and Brian Cushing were among those who increased their activity Tuesday, during the first of three joint practices between the Texans and Broncos. Foster often ran with the Texans’ first team and displayed his normal acceleration, while Johnson and Cushing saw some first-team activity.

“They practiced more than they had and it’s a good sign for our football team,” O’Brien said.

[...]

Johnson, Cushing and Joseph said being healthy for Week 1 against the Washington Redskins is much more important than taking the field for the Texans’ third preseason game. All players acknowledged they’d like to see some exhibition action, though. Joseph plans to be active Week 1.

While saying he wasn't worried about it, Andre Johnson said on Monday the most important thing for him going forward was to take care of the hamstring that tightened up when he made a diving catch during practice.

Today, that meant one more day without Johnson on the field. Running back Arian Foster also missed practice, which marks two-and-a half consecutive morning practices he's missed. Foster missed the final hour of Sunday's morning training camp practice and then missed Monday's altogether.

Original Text

Andre Johnson ended his two-month holdout by reporting to the start of training camp, but it didn't take long for him to return back to the sidelines.

Of course, this is a time for teams to proceed with caution, especially when it comes to veterans who have 11 seasons under their belt, and that's more than likely what's going on here. Both Johnson and head coach Bill O'Brien downplayed the injury.

“I don’t know (if I will be limited). We’ll see what happens,” Johnson said. “Like I said, it’s nothing that I’m seriously (worried about). Anytime you get a nick or anything, you know, you worry about it.”

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

Still, this is at least something worth paying attention to. Johnson skipped all offseason workouts, and this could certainly be a negative effect from that. Moreover, the Texans' depth at wide receiver is iffy at best. DeAndre Hopkins has the look of a future star, but backups Keshawn Martin and DeVier Posey combined for just 37 receptions last season.

Pro Football Focus' Mike Clay noted the problem back when there was talk of the 33-year-old being traded:

Real problem with Texans* trading AJ is their lack of WR depth. Nuk can be a 1, but not a lock to pan out. Rest: Posey/Martin/Bonner/Thomas

Johnson, who has a silly 221 catches and 3,005 yards over the past two seasons, is needed healthy if the Texans are going to rebound from a miserable 2013 season. Fortunately, this injury sounds very minor.